If your New Year’s resolutions include “learn how to cook” then invest in Jamie Oliver’s book,
“Cook with Jamie: My guide to Making You a Better Cook.”

One of the few chefs who have a real desire to mentor other people (his Fifteen program teaches underpriveleged children important restaurant skills) Jamie has a friendly, conversational approach that steers clear from the snobby, condescending tone sometimes adapted by other greats like Gordon Ramsey.

For starters — literally — Jamie’s first chapter discusses the different dressings and ingredients you can use for salads, with little-known tidbits on mayonnaise and delicious recipes, like the perfect Fifteen Salad.

Some people say that TV chefs are like greasy pizza: all flashy marketing and bad food.

Their criticism bemoans the end of good cooking, when quieter though slightly snobbier culinary masters prefered to speak through their dishes.

Of course, there are chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Gordon Ramsay who are excellent chefs and earned the right to dispense cooking advice to others. But what do you say about Rachael Ray or Paula Deen, who have no formal training and restaurant experience? Or the tendency of today’s TV shows to emphasize performance rather than kitchen knowhow? (Classic example: Iron Chef.) Comments welcome!

Some people think Heston Blumenthal is a genius. Others think he’s insane. His “cutting edge” cooking techniques include, among others, feeding geese pine needles for 3 months, and then taking the idea of “slow cooking” to an entirely new level by preparing the dish for 5 days.

For some it’s a “new way of cooking” and others take the more pragmatic approach and say that it’s self indulgent. Nobody would ever be able to apply his techniques, and (they add) it’s more about performance, than flavor.

These recipes are especially helpful during the holiday season. The food writer, host and chef certainly knows how to whip up a quick meal, but she reminds people that there’s more to life than the kitchen. Parties are about “good company and good conversation” she says, and stres shouldn’t get in the way. “You could have the best meal you’ve ever, ever eaten in your life but in that atmosphere, it’s not going to taste so good.”

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Sprinkle roast on all sides with House Seasoning; place, bone ends up, in a shallow roasting pan. Insert a meat thermometer, making sure it does not touch fat or bone. Saute onion in butter until tender but not browned. Add rice, House Seasoning, to taste, and poultry seasoning and water to onion; stir to moisten rice. Bring rice mixture to a boil, then remove from heat. Cover tightly and let stand 10 minutes. Stir dried prunes and dried apricots into the rice mixture. Fill center of roast with rice mixture. Place a folded strip of aluminum foil over exposed ends of ribs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes per pound to until thermometer registers 170 degrees. Garnish with apricot halves, if desired.

Celebrity TV chef John Burton Race came home from a stint in a reality show to find that his ex-wife had put his restaurant for sale. We thought it was a case of “hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” Then it turned out to be garden-variety bankruptcy. Race owns half a million pounds and the bank had called in a refinancing company.

Race has received a lot of offers for the restaurant, including one from a celebrity chef. He’s also planning to put up another restaurant.

Italian chefs always have a signature pasta dish, and this is one of Roberto Donna’s favorites. It’s delicious, gourmet enough to serve guests, but fuss-free for days when you’re too tired from holiday shopping to cook.

One of the most popular chefs in the Washington DC area, Donna actually hails from Italy, and aims to teach what “real” Italian food is (as opposed to the watered-down stuff they sell at steakhouses).

Serve this dish with a Pinet Noir, he suggests, and a bowl of light chicken broth.